BANK OF THE REPUBLIC OF BURUNDI

REGULATION NO. 03/2026 GOVERNING PARTICIPATION IN BURUNDI'S INSTANT PAYMENT SYSTEM NAMED "BURUNDIPAY".

PRESENTATION NOTE

In accordance with Law No. 1/34 of December 2, 2008 establishing its Statutes, the Bank of the Republic of Burundi (BRB) is a national public institution with legal personality and administrative and financial autonomy.

To achieve its main objectives of ensuring price stability and the proper functioning of the financial system, the BRB carries out several missions, including promoting a reliable, efficient, and robust national payment system.

To this end, the BRB is undertaking a major modernization of its payment systems and instruments, including the establishment of an Instant Payment System for Burundi, named BurundiPay.

The BurundiPay system is a retail payment system through which ultra-fast transactions must pass, directly impacting the final beneficiary in a matter of seconds.

This Regulation aims to define the participation rules of the "BurundiPay" system.

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REGULATION NO. 03/2026 GOVERNING PARTICIPATION IN BURUNDI'S INSTANT PAYMENT SYSTEM NAMED "BURUNDIPAY"

The Governor of the Bank of the Republic of Burundi,

Having regard to Law No. 1/34 of December 2, 2008 establishing the Statutes of the Bank of the Republic of Burundi;

Having regard to Law No. 1/17 of August 22, 2017 governing banking activities;

Having regard to Law No. 1/07 of May 11, 2018 establishing the National Payment System;

Having regard to Law No. 1/02 of March 27, 2025 on combating money laundering and terrorist financing;

Having regard to Regulation No. 003/2024 of July 30, 2024 on commercial agents in banking and payment services operations;

Having regard to Regulation No. 002/2024 of July 30, 2024 on payment services and the activities of payment institutions;

Having regard to Regulation No. 1/2022 of February 14, 2022 governing participation in the Integrated Payment and Settlement System of Burundi (SIPREBU);

Having regard to Regulation No. 001 of February 28, 2020 on dematerialization and automated processing of checks;

Having regard to Regulation No. 01 of January 3, 2019 on consumer protection for financial products and services;

Enacts:

Article 1: Object and Scope

This Regulation aims to define the participation and usage rules for the modules composing Burundi's instant payment system, named "BurundiPay".

It applies to all Participants in the BurundiPay System, namely:

1. all banks;
2. the National Postal Service;
3. all payment institutions;
4. all microfinance institutions collecting public deposits;
5. all payment aggregators;
6. any other entity authorized by the Central Bank.

The withdrawal of authorization by the Central Bank from any of the above institutions automatically, without condition or prior notice, results in the loss of Participant status in BurundiPay, as well as the closure of the accounts covered by this Regulation.

Article 2: Acronyms and Definitions

For the purposes of this Regulation, the following concepts and acronyms are defined as follows:

1. Alias: a unique identifier that allows the payment service user to submit it in place of detailed identification data required to complete a payment order;
2. API: application programming interface;
3. Blocking (Blocage): a situation where the settlement of payment documents in participants' queues is blocked due to insufficient funds in their settlement accounts;
4. BurundiPay: Burundi's instant payment system, through which instant payments in Burundian Francs are made by participants across the territory of the Republic of Burundi;
5. CAS: Central Addressing Scheme;
6. CLR (SLA): Settlement Limit Account;
7. Transaction Code: a numeric code identifying the type of payment sent to BurundiPay;
8. Quick Response Code (QR code): a standardized two-dimensional barcode that stores information in a visual label readable by an apparatus equipped with the necessary hardware and software;
9. Settlement Account: an account opened for a participant to execute settlement operations via the RTGS system;
10. CP (PA): Position Account, an IPS account that holds the net financial position of a given participant (direct or indirect) relative to the payment system (representing all other participants);
11. DBO: DataBase Owner;
12. Queue (File d’attente): a list of payment documents whose settlement has been deferred due to insufficient available funds and/or batched payment documents sent for settlement at a given time;
13. IBAN (International Bank Account Number): a standardized international bank account number that uniquely identifies an account within financial transactions;
14. ISO: International Organization for Standardization;
15. LR (SL): Settlement Limit;
16. MX: ISO 20022 message format;
17. Scheme Operator: the organization managing the fund transfer system, which may be a Central Bank or another entity authorized by the Central Bank;
18. Participant: any entity meeting the access conditions to the system;
19. Beneficiary Participant: a BurundiPay participant whose settlement account is credited based on a processed payment document;
20. Direct Participant: a participant that interacts directly with the BurundiPay system and holds a Settlement Account in the RTGS system;
21. Indirect Participant: a participant that settles its operations via the Settlement Account of a Direct Participant;
22. Payer Participant: a BurundiPay participant whose settlement account is debited based on a processed payment document;
23. Non-bank Payment Service Provider ("non-bank PSP"): a payment institution or electronic money institution;
24. Priority: a numeric code by which the system participant defines the sequence of settlements;
25. PSWA: Web Administrator Workstation for Payment Systems;
26. RBAC or Role-Based Access Control: a rights management system that assigns permissions to users based on their role within an organization. Rather than assigning access rights to each user individually, roles are defined and users are assigned to these roles;
27. REST: Representational State Transfer;
28. Settlement (Règlement): the operation by which obligations related to fund transfers between two or more participants are irrevocably discharged through the debit of the payer participant's settlement account and the credit of the beneficiary participant's settlement account;
29. RTGS: Real-Time Gross Settlement system where Direct Participants' settlement accounts are held and net settlement between them is executed;
30. RTP: Payment Request (Payment Query);
31. Scheme: a fund transfer system with formalized and standardized provisions and common rules for the processing, clearing, and/or settlement of payment transactions;

Article 3: Services Offered by Participants in BurundiPay

The main services offered by participants in BurundiPay are as follows:

1. CAS (Central Addressing Scheme) Search Service: service that associates and retrieves unique identification codes for payment service users and other necessary identification data to initiate and execute a payment operation via BurundiPay, using an alias;
2. QR Code Generation and Validation Service: service for generating QR codes presented to the beneficiary to accept instant payments based on payer QR codes;
3. Mobile Payment Services: service allowing users to make payments via their mobile devices, often through QR codes or specific applications;
4. RTP (Request To Pay) Service: mechanism allowing a creditor (such as a supplier or service provider) to send a payment request to a debtor (a customer or consumer) via digital channels (such as payment apps, SMS, or emails);
5. PIR (Payment Initiation Request) Service: request sent by a third party (such as an application or payment service) to a bank or PSP to initiate a transfer or payment on behalf of a client;
6. Instant Transfer: service allowing users to send and receive funds almost instantly (less than 10 seconds), 24/7, with immediate confirmation for the issuer and beneficiary;
7. Bill Payment: service allowing bills to be paid directly from an application or online service, with immediate payment confirmation;
8. Peer-to-Peer (P2P) Payments: service allowing users to send money to other individuals, whether for reimbursements, payments for goods and/or services;
9. Merchant Service: in-store or online cardless payment via QR Code or payment link, with instant receipt of funds;
10. Reporting Service: service allowing participants to request and receive various reports in asynchronous mode based on data accumulated in central systems;
11. Dispute Management Service: service providing an API to participants for managing disputes: creating, claiming, resolving, and sending them to arbitration;
12. "Return Payment" or "refund payment,": process by which a merchant or service returns funds to a customer, generally due to order cancellation, product return, or invoicing amount error.

Article 4: Participation in BurundiPay

The BurundiPay System includes direct and indirect participants.

A direct participant holds a Settlement Account (SA) in RTGS, a Position Account (PA), and a Settlement Limit Account (SLA), in BIF, within the BurundiPay system. It is directly connected to it via a platform and manages its own issuance of orders in the system and position monitoring.

A direct participant is authorized to initiate, receive, route, authorize, clear, and settle payment transactions for its own account and/or on behalf of indirect or sub-participants. It must possess reliable communication means enabling system access. It is required to provide the BRB with information in accordance with the participation application forms or modification of participation mode forms found in Annexes I and III of this Regulation.

An indirect participant holds a Position Account (PA) in BIF within the BurundiPay system but does not have a Settlement Limit Account in BurundiPay nor settlement in RTGS. It provides the BRB with information in accordance with the participation application form found in Annex II of this Regulation.

Article 5: Sub-Participant in the BurundiPay System

A sub-participant in the BurundiPay System does not hold an account within it. It is represented by a Direct or Indirect Participant who assumes the technical and financial responsibility for its orders in the BurundiPay System.

Article 6: Access Conditions to the BurundiPay System

The access conditions for direct and indirect participants to the BurundiPay System are as follows:

1. Compliance with the provisions set out in Annex IV of this Regulation regarding access conditions;
2. Payment of the system participation fees fixed by the BRB;
3. Technical certification by the BRB of the facilities enabling connection to the system is a prerequisite.

Article 7: Operating Rules for Position and Settlement Limit Accounts

The operation of Position (CP) and Settlement Limit (CLR) accounts in BurundiPay follows the rules below:

1. Each direct participant holds a Settlement Limit Account (CLR or SLA);
2. Each direct or indirect participant holds a Position Account (CP or PA);
3. Each CP is linked to exactly one CLR;
4. The balance of the CP reflects the net [unsettled] position of the account holder in BurundiPay;
5. The balance of the CLR reflects the total net [unsettled] position of all PAs linked to the SLA;
6. The direct participant controls the net debit [unsettled] positions of its attached indirect participants;
7. Each Direct Participant opens Loro accounts in its ledger for the attached Indirect Participants;
8. Each Direct Participant manages the debit ceiling for the CP of each attached Indirect Participant, ensuring that the debit ceiling never exceeds the amount available in the Loro account for settling the Indirect Participant's operations;
9. The System Operator monitors the total net debit [unsettled] position of each Direct Participant and all attached Indirect Participants;
10. The BurundiPay System Operator opens a settlement account in RTGS for each Direct Participant;
11. The BurundiPay System Operator manages the settlement limit of each CLR so that the settlement limit never exceeds the amount available in the settlement account for settling operations of a given Direct Participant;
12. The CLR is constituted by funds specially allocated in the form of Central Bank money and intended for the realization and guarantee of transactions processed in BurundiPay. The position of this account reflects that of the ordinary current account already opened in the Central Bank's accounting books for any Direct Participant;
13. Operations admitted into BurundiPay are recorded irrevocably and unconditionally in the settlement accounts after provision control;
14. The Central Bank is authorized to charge participants' position accounts, as applicable.

Article 8: Operations Accepted in BurundiPay

The table below illustrates the main operations available in BurundiPay by interface:

Operation	Message (MX)	Graphical User Interface	File	API Call
Instant Payment	√
Payment Request (RTP/PIR)	√
QR Codes Presented by Beneficiary				√
Participant Registration		√
Client Registration			√
Merchant Registration			√
Participant Control Functions (modification of participant parameters)		√
Account Registration		√
Account Management Functions	√	√
Exchange Day Management		√
Liquidity Management Function	√	√
Risk Management Parameters		√
BurundiPay Position Account Debit Ceiling Management	√	√
Final Settlement	√	√
Monitoring	√	√
Reports	√	√	√	√
Billing		√	√
Dispute Management		√		√
Access Rights Management		√

The list of messages in BurundiPay is provided in Annex V of this Regulation.

Article 9: Main Payment Channels of BurundiPay

BurundiPay supports the following payment types: Instant Single Credit Transfer and Return Payment.

1. Instant Single Credit Transfer: a. Transfer with Beneficiary Participant Authorization In this mode, the Beneficiary's participant must approve or reject the incoming payment. If not approved within the predefined timeframe, it is rejected. b. Transfer without Beneficiary Participant Authorization: A simplified flow without authorization from the Beneficiary's participant applies when there is a high degree of certainty that the destination account exists and allows credits. Payments relative to a payment request (RTP, PIR) or QR Code are examples of such situations. If it ultimately turns out that the Beneficiary's participant is unable to credit the destination account, it must proceed with a fund return. c. Internal Transfer (On-Us) The on-us transfer occurs when the same participant holds both the Payer's source account and the Beneficiary's destination account.
2. Return Payment: The return processing requires no confirmation from the participant acting as counterparty. BurundiPay applies the following conditions to each return payment processing: a. The return reason code specified by the participant must be present in the system dictionary; b. The return retention period (configurable window) has not yet expired; c. The original payment exists (is available in the system's main scheme or short-term archive); d. The returned amount is not greater than the initial payment amount. In case of violation of any of the listed conditions, the return is refused.

Article 10: QR Code

The QR code contains information on the basis of which the paying PSP can request BurundiPay for the necessary data to execute the payment, without displaying the recipient's data in an open format.

A QR code can be represented graphically or textually (as a link).

BurundiPay distinguishes the following three types of QR codes:

1. Static QR, characterized by the following: a. multiple payments can be made on this basis; b. it may contain a fixed, controlled, or free amount; c. it has an infinite lifespan, i.e., no expiration date; d. it can be cancelled at any time by the entity that created it.
2. Dynamic QR: a. allows for a single payment; b. may contain a fixed or controlled payable amount; c. has a limited validity period, after which it expires.
3. Hybrid QR combining elements of Static and Dynamic QR: a. the graphical or textual representation of the QR remains unchanged, as with a Static QR; b. payment data information is defined in a payment extension with the same functions as Dynamic QR.

Article 11: RTP Payment

The RTP payment process consists of three sub-processes including:

1. the issuance of a token document;
2. the reception of the payment signal;
3. the release of the lock [on the transaction].

Article 12: Exchange Day

A BurundiPay system exchange day schedule is composed of a sequence of periods. Each period is defined by:

1. its start and end times;
2. its activation mode (manual, automatic);
3. the actions to be performed by the system;
4. the actions to be performed upon period activation;
5. the actions to be performed upon period deactivation;
6. the configurable order of action execution;
7. the value dates for transactions authorized to be accepted and settled during the period, namely the value date corresponding to the current date;
8. the period parameters (which define, among other things, the activated instruments).

Each period represents a defined set of actions to be performed during the exchange day. During the exchange day, there may be restrictions on transitions from one period to another.

Limitations may relate to sequence prohibitions. There are also limits concerning the start and end times of a period.

The periods and parameters attached to the periods are defined and administered in the DBO workstation for managing exchange day templates and PSWA for managing the current exchange day.

New exchange day periods and new exchange day templates must be created beforehand before being used for an exchange day.

Article 13: Liquidity Management in BurundiPay

Liquidity management in the BurundiPay system is carried out in accordance with the following elements:

1. Position limits, available and used positions: a. debit ceiling: a value limiting the maximum debit position of the Position Account; b. available PA position: dynamically calculated as the sum of the net position and the PA debit ceiling; c. settlement limit: a value limiting the maximum debit position of the Settlement Limit Account; d. available SLA position: the sum of the SLA Settlement Limit and the positions of all attached PAs; e. used value of Debit Ceiling / Settlement Limit: a net debit (negative) position expressed as a percentage of the respective limit. If the net position is positive, the used value of the debit ceiling/settlement limit equals 0.
2. Debit Ceiling Management: This is a process for managing the debit ceiling for indirect participants by the concerned direct participant. The debit ceiling can be adjusted at any time during BurundiPay operating hours (24/7).

Article 14: Role of the BRB

1. BurundiPay Management The Central Bank ensures the management of BurundiPay, notably through: a. monitoring the overall proper functioning of the system, essentially in terms of exchange fluidity; b. monitoring compliance with the system participation regulation by participants; c. organizing the exchange day; d. managing the exchange day.
2. Security, Monitoring, and Governance of BurundiPay To ensure secure system operation, the Central Bank implements: a. an advanced technical device for securing access to the system, preventing fraudulent access, regardless of the communication network type used for exchanges; b. an exchange security device, efficient liquidity management in the system, and unblocking of situations as applicable; c. monitoring transactions that may cause systemic risk, such as very large transfers and settlement of clearing balances; d. active monitoring ensuring compliance with system operating rules, regulatory framework especially to ensure consumer protection.

Article 15: Role of Participants in BurundiPay

1. Limit Management The limit management function also applies to the own accounts of Participants.